Americans Go to College: Do you want to know how many Americans attend college? That, however, is not a problem. In this article, we present college enrollment statistics for postsecondary education in the United States.
Americans Go to College?
The exact number of Americans that go to college may not be naturally captured due to factors like: availability of unaccredited colleges, college dropouts whose names are still in the school registers, etc.
Nonetheless, our content has an accurate statistics of Americans who enroll in postsecondary schools, kindly read further.
How Many Americans Have a College Degree?
As the popularity and importance of college have increased over the last several decades, so has the number of Americans with college degrees.
Nearly 94 million Americans ages 25 and over, which is about 42% of the total U.S. population in that age demographic, had an associate, bachelor’s, graduate, or professional degree, according to U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent data.
In 1940, when the census first asked questions about education attainment, less than 5% of adults 25 and over reported they’d earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.
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In 2011, adults with college degrees of all types accounted for 36% of the population. This group has increased by more than five percentage points over the last decade.
Though the surge in degree-holding Americans over the last 70 years continues for now, a recent slump in enrollment at postsecondary institutions could slow this growth in years to come.
Because of these slumps, caused by affordability issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, we can reasonably expect a dip in the percentage of degree holders in upcoming reports.
College Enrollment Statistics
College enrollment statistics indicate that more Americans are forgoing higher education; some may be putting off college attendance to build savings.
Here is the enrollment statistics:
‣ Enrollment peaked in 2010 at 21.02 million.
‣ Since 2010, enrollment has declined 9.6%.
‣ 12.0 million or 60.9% of all students, graduate and undergraduate, are enrolled full-time.
‣ 4.1 million or 20.7% of students graduate annually.
‣ 62.7% of high school (or equivalent) graduates go on to postsecondary study.
‣ The rate of enrollment among new high school graduates declined 5.29% YoY.
‣ Since 1960, the rate of enrollment among high school graduates increased 46.8% total (0.8% annually).
‣ Among first-time, first-year college students, 83.0% are full-time students.
‣ As many as 6.6% of American adults are currently enrolled in college as part-time or full-time students.
‣ In the 2019-2020 academic year, 1.075 million enrolled students were foreign-born.
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Total College Enrollment (Undergraduate & Graduate Students) from 1950 to 2022
| Year | Total Enrollment | % Public Institution Enrollment |
| 2022* | 20,031,000 | 73.7% |
| 2021* | 20,327,000 | 73.7% |
| 2020 | 18,991,798 | 73.0% |
| 2019 | 19,630,178 | 73.9% |
| 2018 | 19,651,412 | 74.0% |
| 2017 | 19,778,151 | 73.7% |
| 2016 | 19,846,904 | 73.5% |
| 2015 | 19,988,204 | 72.9% |
| 2014 | 20,209,092 | 72.5% |
| 2013 | 20,376,677 | 72.4% |
| 2012 | 20,644,478 | 72.1% |
| 2011 | 21,010,590 | 71.9% |
| 2010 | 21,019,438 | 72.0% |
| 2009 | 20,313,594 | 72.9% |
| 2008 | 19,081,686 | 73.2% |
| 2007 | 18,258,138 | 73.9% |
| 2006 | 17,754,230 | 74.2% |
| 2005 | 17,487,475 | 74.5% |
| 2004 | 17,272,044 | 75.2% |
| 2003 | 16,911,481 | 76.0% |
| 2002 | 16,611,711 | 76.8% |
| 2001 | 15,927,987 | 76.8% |
| 2000 | 15,312,289 | 76.8% |
| 1999 | 14,849,691 | 76.6% |
| 1998 | 14,506,967 | 76.8% |
| 1997 | 14,502,334 | 77.2% |
| 1996 | 14,367,520 | 77.4% |
| 1995 | 14,261,781 | 77.8% |
| 1994 | 14,278,790 | 78.0% |
| 1993 | 14,304,803 | 78.2% |
| 1992 | 14,487,359 | 78.6% |
| 1991 | 14,358,953 | 78.8% |
| 1990 | 13,818,637 | 78.5% |
| 1989 | 13,538,560 | 78.1% |
| 1988 | 13,055,337 | 77.8% |
| 1987 | 12,766,642 | 78.1% |
| 1986 | 12,503,511 | 77.7% |
| 1985 | 12,247,055 | 77.4% |
| 1984 | 12,241,940 | 77.4% |
| 1983 | 12,464,661 | 77.7% |
| 1982 | 12,425,780 | 78.0% |
| 1981 | 12,371,672 | 78.0% |
| 1980 | 12,096,895 | 78.2% |
| 1979 | 11,569,899 | 78.1% |
| 1978 | 11,260,092 | 78.0% |
| 1977 | 11,285,787 | 78.4% |
| 1976 | 11,012,137 | 78.6% |
| 1975 | 11,184,859 | 79.0% |
| 1974 | 10,223,729 | 78.1% |
| 1973 | 9,602,123 | 77.3% |
| 1972 | 9,214,860 | 76.7% |
| 1971 | 8,948,644 | 76.0% |
| 1970 | 8,580,887 | 74.9% |
| 1965 | 5,920,864 | 67.0% |
| 1961 | 4,145,065 | 61.8% |
| 1955 | 2,653,034 | 55.6% |
| 1950 | 2,281,298 | 50.0% |
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